This invention relates to a nose fairing assembly for a missile containing in its nose region forward looking electro-optic equipment.
In a multiple launch rocket system the weapon includes a nose region housing electro-optic equipment behind a domed window and has two phases of flight; a ballistic phase and a final phase. During the ballistic phase there is a requirement that the missile nose have a low drag profile and that the domed window be protected from the effects of aerodynamic heating. It is also important that the missile be balanced for stability during this phase. In the final phase there is a requirement for an unobstructed dome for the electro-optic equipment.
In the past it has been proposed to enclose the dome with an ogival fairing constituted by a number of petals which are released prior to the final phase to fall away. In another proposal the dome is protected by enclosing it in a pre-stressed frangible glass cover designed to be shattered into small fragments in the final phase. Both these proposals however suffer from the disadvantage that debris produced when the dome is uncovered flies back over the missile and may damage the dome or other equipment associated with the missile e.g. the missile fins.